A well-known inkjet-type recording apparatus is configured to form (record) an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink thereon. Such recording apparatus is provided with a cartridge accommodating portion which an ink cartridge storing ink is insertable into and removable from.
To record an image on the recording medium, the ink-jet type recording apparatus ejects ink from a recording head while the ink is supplied to the recording head from the ink cartridge. When an amount of ink stored in the ink cartridge becomes empty, the inkjet-type recording apparatus is unable to record an image on the recording medium. In order to avoid such a situation, the inkjet-type recording apparatus is provided with a mechanism for detecting a remaining amount of ink stored in the ink cartridge. Further, the ink cartridge has a structure suitable for detection of the remaining amount of ink.
According to a conventional mechanism for detecting a remaining amount of ink in an ink cartridge, the ink cartridge used for an ink-jet recording apparatus has a transparent ink tank. Whether or not light exposing the ink tank is transmitted thereinto is determined by detecting whether or not the light is blocked by a shutter provided in the ink tank based on the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank. Further, according to another conventional mechanism, an amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge is detected based on the number of ejections of ink from a recording head.
With the above-described mechanisms and structures of the inkjet-type recording apparatus and the ink cartridge, a user can recognize that the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge mounted in the inkjet-type recording apparatus has been decreasing. Hence, the user can replace the ink cartridge with a new one before the ink in the mounted ink cartridge becomes empty. Consequently, the user can avoid such a situation that no image can be recorded on a recording medium due to running out of the ink stored in the mounted ink cartridge.